Oh well, not too long to go, which is good and bad in a way, as I don't think any of us want this series to end.
Well, needs must, so here's today's recap. Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Wednesday 3 November 2010.
C1: Champion Marcus Hares (2 wins, 203 points.) An Apteforumite from Street, Somerset, better known to his friends as "Bunny", wonder why
. He works as an office administrator. He's a big tennis fanatic and would most like to meet John McEnroe (Cue "You cannot be serious!" gag. 
) His other ambition is to complete his collection of Number 1 singles, which extends right back to the beginning of the charts. He says his favourite of those singles is "Prince Charming" by Adam and the Ants. At the end of the show, we also find out that he's a Bristol City fan, so even though they're near the relegation zone at the moment, ex-Huddersfield Town striker Jon Stead's goals, should hopefully mount promotion charge later in the season.C2: Challenger Aron Brown. A cinema projectionist from Derby. He changed his name by deed poll to "Aron Mustapha Fonzerella Columbo Ball-In-A-Cup Boogie Woogie Brown"
Could've been worse, one of his friends changed his middle name to Deirdre. His other ambition is to have a giant gold statue of himself in the centre of Derby, followed by others in other big cities. There have been some wacky contestants on the show, but I think Aron is top of the pile at the moment. DC: Susie Dent and John Parrott.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: G E A I R P N U T
R02: S X D E I A T S U
R03: N I E O W T M E D
R04: V B S A O E R T O
R05: 75, 7, 1, 10, 4, 6. Target: 598.
TTT: HERGIFTS - "Her gifts arrive by the truckload, perhaps?"
R06: I A I L C D Y G E
R07: S O E O B R S A T
R08: M L G E O E T L I
R09: R E O U W P T I S
R10: 75, 50, 10, 3, 1, 9. Target: 548.
TTT: EGGSINUS - "Taking a random shot at this game"
R11: L E O E N F R A A
R12: D T H U A E U F V
R13: K A I E L P M D Q
R14: 75, 7, 4, 3, 10, 8. Target: 771.
R15: S U P E R P O L Y (conundrum)
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Round 1: G E A I R P N U T
C1: reputing
C2: PARTING (7)
DC: TAPERING (8)
OT: ERUPTING (8) REPUTING (8) UPRATING (8)
Score: 0–7 (max 8)
Immediately, we have a controversial start, as Susie disallows reputing, yet we give it the thumbs up here. Hopefully that won't be crucial later on.
Round 2: S X D E I A T S U
C1: TISSUE (6)
C2: TAXIED (6)
DC: tissued STUDIES (7)
Score: 6–13 (max 15)
A not too unreasonable selection provides just the single 7, spotted by DC.
Round 3: N I E O W T M E D
C1: downtime
C2: TIMED (5)
DC: DOMINEE (7)
OT: MIDTOWN (7) TEMENOI (7)
Score: 6–18 (max 22)
More bad luck for Marcus, but there's no doubt this time as downtime is down time, or 2 words, to be exact.
Round 4: V B S A O E R T O
C1: BOATERS (7)
C2: BRAVOES (7)
DC: BOASTER (7) REBOOTS (7) BOOSTER (7)
OT: BORATES (7) BRAVEST (7) OBOVATE (7) OBVERTS (7)
Score: 13–25 (max 29)
A pancake round without a pancake. In other words, FLAT.
OBOVATE is an adjective meaning (of a leaf or similar flat part) shaped like the longitudinal section of an egg with the narrower end at the base.
Round 5: 75, 7, 1, 10, 4, 6. Target: 598.
C1: 598. ((7 + 1) x 75) - (6 - 4) (10)
C2: 598. ((7 + 1) x 75) - (6 - 4) (10)
Score: 23–35 (max 39)
John talks about him being a member of Formby Golf Club, and tells involving former US Open winner Tommy Bolt.
Teatime teaser: HERGIFTS -> FREIGHTS
Round 6: I A I L C D Y G E
C1: LEGACY (6)
C2: deligacy
DC: ALGICIDE (8)
Score: 29–35 (max 47)
At first, I thought that Aron had completely lost his marbles and offered DELICACY with 1 C, but it turns out he was going for DELEGACY, but as you can see, he needed another E, so Marcus is right back in it now. Great darren from DC too.
Round 7: S O E O B R S A T
C1: BOOSTERS (8)
C2: BOATERS (7)
DC: BOASTERS (8)
Score: 37–35 (max 55)
Haven't I seen this round before
Well, not quite, but Marcus' memory is better than Aron's and he gets one of the 2 available 8's.Round 8: M L G E O E T L I
C1: MOTILE (6)
C2: MOTEL (5)
DC: MILLET (6) GIMLET (6)
OT: MELILOT (7)
Score: 43–35 (max 62)
Another good spot by Marcus, and he's now starting to build a bigger lead.
A MELILOT is a cloverlike plant of the genus Melilotus, of the legume family, grown as a forage plant.
Round 9: R E O U W P T I S
C1: WIPEOUTS (8)
C2: retips
DC: POSTURE (7)
Score: 51–35 (max 70)
Another good darren from Marcus here, and now the game seems to have turned in his favour.
Susie's Origin Of Words tells about the origins of "toast", as in the sense of "toasting someone", and "wet your whistle".
Round 10: 75, 50, 10, 3, 1, 9. Target: 548.
C1: 547. ((10 + 1) x 50) - 3 (7)
C2: -
JS: 548. (50 x 10) + 75 - (9 x 3) (10)
Score: 58–35 (max 80)
With Aron still pointless in this half, Marcus gets another 7, while Jeff solves the numbers.
Teatime teaser: EGGSINUS -> GUESSING
Round 11: L E O E N F R A A
C1: LOANER (6)
C2: ROLE (4)
DC: AREOLAE (7)
Score: 64–35 (max 87)
Aron seems to have gone into a massive downward spiral, as Marcus keeps on racking up the points, while DC rack up the darrens.
Round 12: D T H U A E U F V
C1: HAFTED (6)
C2: FATED (5)
Score: 70–35 (max 93)
And Marcus gets a darren of his own, and the game is more or less over now.
Round 13: K A I E L P M D Q
C1: IMPALED (7)
C2: PALED (5)
OT: IMPLEAD (7)
Score: 77–35 (max 100)
Game, set and match for Marcus.
Round 14: 75, 7, 4, 3, 10, 8. Target: 771.
C1: 771. (75 x 10) + (7 x 3) (10)
C2: 771. (75 x 10) + (7 x 3) (10)
Score: 87–45 (max 110)
And Aron finally gets some points, after 8 consecutive blank rounds.
Round 15: S U P E R P O L Y
C1 buzzes on 1.5 seconds to say PURPOSELY which is correct.
Final Score: 97–45 (max 120)
And another conundrum solve by Marcus, putting his average from his 3 games to bang on 100.
After an unfortunate double blow at the start, Marcus didn't falter, unlike Aron, who just capsized after the first half.
Can Marcus become a half-octochamp tomorrow
Join me to find out.Till then, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Marcus:
Total score - 97
Raw score - 97
Total % of max - 81
Raw % of max - 81
Total average score per round - 6.5
Raw average score per round - 6.5
Number of maxes - 8
Aron:
Total score - 45
Raw score - 71
Total % of max - 38
Raw % of max - 59
Total average score per round - 3.0
Raw average score per round - 4.7
Number of maxes - 3
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=63
